JESUS' LETTER TO RUTH

HOME     BACK

Sent from a friend, a cousin - Portia Dagondon:

Ruth went to her mailbox and there was only one

letter. She picked it up and looked at it before

opening, but then she looked at the envelope again.

There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name

and address. She read the letter:

Dear Ruth:

I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday

afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit.

Love Always,

Jesus

 

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter

on the table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me?

I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer."

With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen

cabinets. "Oh my goodness,I really don't have

anything to offer. I'll have to run down to the

store and buy something for dinner." She reached

for her purse and counted out its contents. Five

dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some bread and

cold cuts, at least."

 

She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of

French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton

of milk...leaving Ruth with grand total of twelve cents

to last her until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt good as she

headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.

"Hey lady, can you help us, lady?" Ruth had been so

absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures

huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them

dressed in little more than "Look lady, I ain't got a

job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the

street, and, well, now it's getting cold and we're getting kinda

hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we'd really appreciate it."

 

Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad

and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of

work if they really wanted to. "Sir, I'd like to help you, but

I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and

some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner

tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him."

 

"Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway." The

man put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned and

he headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave,

Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. "Sir, wait!"

The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley

after them.

"Look, why don't you take this food. I'll figure out

something else to serve my guest." She handed the man her grocery bag.

"Thank you lady. Thank you very much!" "Yes, thank you!"

It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that she was

shivering. "You know, I've got another coat at home.

Here, why don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and

slipped it over the woman's shoulders. Then smiling, she turned

and walked back to the street...without her coat and with nothing to

serve her guest.

 

"Thank you lady! Thank you very much!"

Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door,

and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have

anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door

key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. "That's odd.

The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day." She took the

envelope out of the box and opened it.

 

Dear Ruth:

It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely

meal.

And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.

Love Always

Jesus

 

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth

no longer noticed.

Please pass this on, if YOU have some time.